Wow, I didn’t realized Obama had the power to call down earthquakes to give us an excuse to go invade Haiti. If we didn’t send aid, you people would bitch. Now we send aid and have to organize air traffic, you people bitch. Some people are so self centered that if they don’t get their way, the other person is automatically evil. Did you consider maybe given the limited capacity, certain higher priority traffic needs to get in first?

I whole heartily agree “Comatose51″ some people are just never happy and always have to find the worst in every situation!

Realistically, Obama has very little power in terms of USA policy and diplomatic relations. At least in his first 2 years in office that is. Most of the BS happening now from the US gov has to do with failed policies of the past couple of years.

Uhm, I think you have your facts confused.. The guy before him was the warmongering obliviot, and the reason planes were turned away from Haiti is because there was no room for them until additional cleanup could be done and basic infrastructure could be restored. Part of that was letting in planes that had the resources to do this so that there would be room for additional supplies and clear paths to get them out of the way.

As for the “occupation” of Haiti – the Haiti government isn’t asking us to leave, they welcome our help because they are unable to manage at the moment. The fact is that they need someone in charge of operations and to handle security.

I read a news article earlier about a Haiti resident complaining about the US being there “policing” the streets, claiming they don’t need police… then two paragraphs later they are complaining about the looting of two stores where everything was stolen by fellow residents.

#2: “Now we send aid and have to organize air traffic, you people bitch. Some people are so self centered that if they don’t get their way, the other person is automatically evil. Did you consider maybe given the limited capacity, certain higher priority traffic needs to get in first?”

Higher priority traffic than a field hospital (the French) and trained emergency relief doctors? (the French, Cubans, and Doctors Without Borders) Man, what are you on about? Who the hell said military presence was “higher priority”? I’m in public health: the military is not a desirable disaster relief mechanism.

#4: Personally because I am appalled that while Cuba and the Chinese had the first wave of relief workers on the ground with 18 hours, the US didn’t get their assess in gear until at least a day later, a significant portion of the “aid” is military presence, and that “aid” is obstructing help that is desperately needed in a literally life or death moment-to-moment sense.

#5: “Realistically, Obama has very little power in terms of USA policy and diplomatic relations. At least in his first 2 years in office that is.”

Try reading the US constitution, especially the bit in Article II about the “Commander in Chief”. Then reflect on how cowboy Geroge W. Bush and his cronies, against the pervailing sentiment of the American people and allies around the world invaded Iraq. “Little power?”

#6: your point on humor is taken, I find turning relief efforts away from dying people in the tens to hundreds of thousands to turn my stomach.

#7: “Uhm, I think you have your facts confused.. The guy before him was the warmongering obliviot”

Obomba’s rhetoric on invading and bombing Pakistan prefigured the Bush administration’s attacks. The current president has escalated the war in Afghanistant, stagnated the war in Iraq, escalated the conflict in Pakistan: don’t delude yourself, he follows the same foreign policy as the previous occupant of his office.
#7 continued: “the reason planes were turned away from Haiti is because there was no room for them until additional cleanup could be done and basic infrastructure could be restored.”

Funny how relief planes were getting in before the US turned them away, huh?

I know in certain parts of the US, EMTs always wait for the police to arrive first at the scene of a crime before going in and assisting. Same scenario here. So you’re telling me that the French field hospital is capable of opening up a destroyed airport, directing air traffic, and providing security? Had we let the hospital in without security and they’re attacked, people would bitch again. Let’s step back for a moment and just think. Why in the hell do we want to be in Haiti? We have two ongoing wars and China and Russia as strategy threats. What could we possibly gain from diverting our military to Haiti? The cost of a war and occupying a country is far greater than what Haiti could possibly provide in return. At least Iraq had oil so it’s conceivable that Bush and his cronies wanted to loot that. But Haiti!?